Chao of Phrae

Who he is

Title

Chao of Phrae

Since

not known

Born

not known

Family

The Phrae chronicle (undated compilation) gives an early line that nothing dated supports; the English Wikipedia names no ruler before 1889.

Confidence

low

English Wikipedia (Phrae).

What it holds

• Phrae and the Yom plain
• Muang Song and the upper Yom
• The relic hill of Cho Hae

Allies and rivals

Nan (east), Khelang Nakhon (west over the Phi Pan Nam), Phayao (north), Sukhothai plain (south).

How things stand that morning

A moated town with a chao; no dated event.

Wealth

Rice of the Yom, the road, teak for local use.

Military

Moat and bank; no numbers.

Threats

• None dated

Places of note

• Phrae: moated town

Where the sources disagree

• English Wikipedia (Phrae): "first established in 1371 BE (828AD)", unsourced; not used.

Evidence: Chronicle tradition and the moated town itself.

On the map: Seeds drawing.

Primary sources for Yom and Nan

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• The Glass Palace Chronicle of the Kings of Burma, The Royal Historical Commission of King Bagyidaw (Monywe Sayadaw and others), drawing on U Kala's Maha Yazawin (about 1724) and earlier chronicles (1829 to 1832). The standard Burmese court chronicle, compiled six centuries after 1200 from older chronicles now lost. Read online
• The later Tai, Lao and Mon chronicles of the north, Ratanapanna (Jinakalamali); Bodhiramsi (Chamadevivamsa); anonymous monks and court scribes (the Chamadevivamsa about 1410; the Jinakalamali 1516 to 1528; the Chiang Mai Chronicle in its surviving form 1827; the Nithan Khun Borom 16th to 17th century). There is no text of 1200 for the Mon kingdom of Haripunjaya, the Tai muang of Ngoenyang (Chiang Saen), Chiang Rung, the Yom and Nan valleys, or the Lao middle Mekong.
• The Inscriptions of Cambodia, Various (the Khmer kings and their officers), edited by George Coedes (inscriptions of the 6th to 14th centuries; edited 1937 to 1966). The Khmer empire of 1200 is known almost entirely from the great foundation stelae of Jayavarman VII (reigning from 1181), which Coedes edited: the Ta Prohm stele of 1186 (K. Read online
• The Customs of Cambodia, Zhou Daguan (after 1297, from a stay at Angkor in 1296 to 1297). A Chinese envoy's account of Angkor a century after Jayavarman VII, and the only description of the city and its court by an eyewitness. Read online